Advertisement presentation system

Abstract

An interest estimation means is provided for estimating, from user schedule information, what users are currently interested in. Advertisements that accord with distribution conditions—which are based on these estimated user interests—are selected, and these advertisements are presented along with schedule information. In addition to user interests, the advertisement distribution conditions can include user whereabouts, and what advertisements a user has incorporated into his own schedule information.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An advertisement presentation system comprising: 
 user schedule information storage means for storing user schedule information;    advertisement data storage means for storing advertisements to be presented in conjunction with schedule information when a user consults his schedule information;    interest estimation means for estimating, from the user schedule information stored in the user schedule information storage means, which advertisements a user will be interested in; and    advertisement presentation means for presenting to a user, along with the user's schedule information, advertisements that the interest estimation means has estimated will be interesting to the user.    
     
     
         2 . An advertisement presentation system according to  claim 1 , wherein: 
 the interest estimation means includes means for consulting a knowledge database in which has been stored information relating to what sort of advertising service a certain schedule item corresponds with, and for extracting, from the user's schedule information, a keyword for retrieving the associated advertisement data; and    the advertisement presentation means includes means for using the keyword extracted by the interest estimation means to associate advertisement data that matches the keyword with user schedule information, and for presenting this advertisement data along with the user schedule information.    
     
     
         3 . An advertisement presentation system according to  claim 1 , wherein: 
 the advertisement data storage means stores geographical region data serving as a condition for presenting an advertisement;    a user whereabouts estimation means is provided for estimating, from the user's schedule information in the user schedule information storage means, which geographical region the user is currently in; and    the advertisement presentation means includes means for associating advertisement data that corresponds to this estimated user whereabouts with a user's schedule information, and for presenting the advertisement data along with the schedule information.    
     
     
         4 . An advertisement presentation system according to  claim 1 , which includes means for storing as user schedule information in the user schedule storage means, as a result of user input, advertisement data that has been presented along with user schedule information; 
 wherein the interest estimation means includes means for estimating, from this advertisement data stored as schedule information, which advertisements the user will find interesting.    
     
     
         5 . A server to which user terminals are connected via a network, this server comprising: 
 user schedule information storage means for storing user schedule information that has been input from the user terminals;    schedule output means for outputting user schedule information from the aforementioned user schedule information storage means when there has been an access from a user terminal;    advertisement data storage means for storing advertisement data that has been input from an advertising provider; and    means for associating the advertisement data stored in this advertisement data storage means with the user schedule information from the user schedule information storage means;    wherein:    the means for establishing this association includes interest estimation means for estimating, from the contents of the user schedule information, which advertisements the user will be interested in;    this interest estimation means includes means for consulting a database in which has been stored information relating to what sort of advertising service a particular schedule item corresponds with, and for extracting a keyword serving to extract advertisement data that corresponds with the stored user schedule information; and    there is provided advertisement presentation means which uses the keyword extracted by the interest estimation means to associate advertisement data that matches the keyword with the aforementioned user schedule information, and which presents the advertisement data in question along with the user schedule information.    
     
     
         6 . A server according to  claim 5 , wherein: 
 the advertisement data storage means stores geographical region data serving as a condition for presenting an advertisement;    a user whereabouts estimation means is provided for estimating, from the user's schedule information in the user schedule information storage means, which geographical region the user is currently in; and    the advertisement presentation means includes means for associating advertisement data that corresponds with this estimated user whereabouts with a user's schedule information, and for presenting the advertisement data along with the schedule information.    
     
     
         7 . A server according to  claim 5  or  6 , which includes means for storing as user schedule information in the user schedule storage means, as a result of user input, advertisement data that has been presented along with user schedule information.  
     
     
         8 . User operable terminal equipment connected via a network to a server equipped with user schedule information storage means in which user schedule information can be stored, and with advertisement data storage means in which advertisement data has been stored; this terminal equipment comprising: 
 schedule information input means for inputting user schedule information to the user schedule information storage means; and    display means whereby, as a result of user control, the schedule information storage means is consulted, and the schedule information of the user in question is acquired and displayed;    wherein:    the display means comprises means for displaying, along with the acquired user schedule information, advertisement data stored in the advertisement data storage means of the server, said displayed advertisement data being that for which advertisement information associated with the user schedule information has been distributed along with the schedule information; and    the advertisement data to be distributed along with this schedule information is advertisement data indicated by an advertisement item estimated to be of interest to the user on the basis of the input user schedule information.    
     
     
         9 . A storage medium in which have been stored programs which, by being installed in an information processing unit, implement the schedule and advertisement presentation system set forth in  claims 1  to  4 , the server set forth in  claims 5  to  7 , and the terminal equipment set forth in claim  8 .